I've spent 10 years across big tech and venture-backed startups, building my career around understanding consumer behavior. I enjoy researching obscure business trends and creating tools that identify patterns others miss.

But I don't just stop at research, I build automation systems that pipe raw data and analytics directly into business processes. I've used these systems to generate leads, run personalized marketing campaigns, and drive tens of millions of views across social media.

I design the workflows, connect the data sources, and build the automation pipelines. I use GitHub Actions, Cloudflare Workers, and n8n to run these systems 24/7. 

email: jd@joedirico.com

Joe DiRico

Yoann Pavy

Head of Growth at AiApply | ex Deliveroo, Depop, Perkbox & Nude | Host the 'In Growth We Trust' podcast | Startup Advisor

I didn’t come into growth through a textbook or a formal program. I built my career in the trenches of performance marketing, inside fast moving startups where the only rule was to make things work. 

From launching paid social channels at early stage companies to scaling growth teams across consumer brands, I’ve always been drawn to ambiguity and momentum.

There were no playbooks handed to me on day one. Just business goals, blank dashboards, and a constant need to figure things out. I learned to think like both a marketer and a builder, spotting patterns before there was enough data, iterating when certainty did not exist, and making decisions that balanced instinct with evidence. 

That hands on, test first mentality still shapes how I approach growth today.

Today, I’m the Chief Growth Officer at AIApply, helping rethink how people experience the job search. We are building products that remove friction from a process that is often stressful and opaque, using technology in a way that is practical, human, and genuinely useful. It is not about growth for growth’s sake, but about solving real problems at scale.

I still operate like a practitioner. I stay close to the data, the experiments, and the details. I believe good marketing is earned, not manufactured, and that responsible growth matters more than fast wins that do not last. 

I care deeply about building teams that feel ownership over their work and understand why what they are doing matters. You will not find polished frameworks or buzzword heavy playbooks here. I share openly about growth, marketing, and building in public because I believe the real work is often messier and more thoughtful than it appears from the outside. 

If you have ever felt like this work is both highly creative and quietly existential, and that tension is what keeps you sharp, then we will probably get along. Let’s connect 👋

Podcast Host

The best Growth Marketing podcast on this planet 🌎  (trying to be)
If you’re a marketer, growth leader, founder, or entrepreneur! This is for you.

When your boss knows you too well...

And brings you back a 1996 Alakazam Pokemon card from his trip to Tokyo 🇯🇵

Not only because I do love cool objects
But also because he added "you reminded me of this pokemon, a wizard" 🧙‍♂️

Very cool, thanks Aidan C., super thoughtful ☺️

I'd still take a pay rise though!

FYI: This pokemon has the coolest names, Abra -> Kadabra -> Alakazam 🪄

No alternative text description for this image

You won't believe it, but this AIApply video was made by Claude...

✨ One-shot prompt
✨ Claude code + Github + Remotion
✨ Taking elements straight from our codebase

Imagine a world where a 1-person growth team can automate and deploy product content on any channel just by linking GitHub to LLMs...

Well, that's happening today! 🤯

What are you waiting for?

Some shots from the fabulous growth event at Sushi Samba organised by the legendary Hannah Parvaz from Aperture but also Paddle.

MRR was unlocked that night 📈

Thx for the invite 👏

You're not ready for this! 

Content coming in a feed near you...

I love his "walk and talk" videos ❤️

Big thanks to Raphael Yarish for inviting me to his show. 

AdManage.ai x AIApply

LFG!!!

Most people obsess over WHERE they should work,

They shouldn't...

👀 Big logo
👀 Big brand
👀 Big valuation

The real cheat code isn’t where.

It’s WHEN.

Because honestly, AIApply, Deliveroo or Depop on my CV aren’t impressive because they’re well-known today.

They’re impressive because I joined early enough to be part of the inflexion point. That chaotic, scrappy, high-conviction moment where a company goes from:

“Wait… what is this?”
to
“Oh sh*t… everyone knows this.”

That moment is electric.
And it changes you.

👉 You don’t just “do a job”
👉 You build the machine.
👉 You ship fast, break things, fix them, learn everything.

You develop an obsession with impact.

If you’re hungry
If you want to crush it
If you’re ready to give it everything you’ve got

Then maybe the best move isn’t chasing the biggest startup.
It’s finding an early-stage one with:

✅ a genuinely great idea
✅ early traction (even small, but real)
✅ a team that’s moving like they have something to prove

Because joining too late means you’re executing the playbook.

Joining early means you’re writing it ✍️

And trust me, that’s where the fun is.

What’s the best early inflexion point company you’ve ever joined (or wish you had)?

📸 2018 photo of myself, my wife and son at a Depop market in London

You can now check if your job is safe from AI 👀

For me, CMO: 35/100 risk score...

✅ Marked Safe from AI Disruption

You can check yours at👇
https://layoffstats.com

If you feel like the job market makes no sense right now, you are not alone.

That’s exactly why we at AIApply built this.

We wanted a simple, transparent way to understand what’s really going on. Not headlines, not anecdotes, just data.

LayoffStats tracks layoffs across tech and beyond, helping candidates, founders, recruiters, and operators see the bigger picture:

📊 where layoffs are happening
📊 how trends evolve over time
📊 which sectors are most impacted
📊 and how the market is really moving

For recruiters, this also means better timing and better context. Understanding where layoffs are happening helps identify talent pools earlier and plan hiring strategies with real market signals instead of guesswork.

We also built an AI job risk analysis module that helps people understand how exposed roles or sectors might be to layoffs based on emerging patterns in the data.

And importantly, LayoffStats is crowdsourced. 

Anyone can report layoffs, which helps surface information faster and keeps the dataset current. The goal is to make the job market more transparent for everyone.

The reality is that the job market has fundamentally changed. AI adoption, post-pandemic corrections, and macro pressure are reshaping hiring.

Our goal is not to be pessimistic. It is the opposite.

Better data leads to better decisions:

→ candidates can time their searches better
→ recruiters can find talent faster and plan ahead
→ founders can understand hiring cycles
→ and everyone can navigate uncertainty with context instead of fear.

If you are hiring, job hunting, or just trying to make sense of where the market is going, I think you will find it useful.

Curious to hear what patterns you are seeing in 2026 so far 👇

BONUS: Any jobseeker who shares it on X or Linkedin, I'll personally give you a month of AIApply for free. 🆓

Traditional VC scaling is becoming an outdated flex 👋

Not because VC is over.

Because the advantage VC used to buy is no longer rare.

Speed is getting commoditized.

1) The traditional VC playbook

You raise money to buy speed.

✅ Goal: Win the market fast
✅ Growth strategy: Aggressive acquisition + expansion
✅ Team size: Hire ahead of revenue (sales, marketing, ops, “future-proofing”)
✅ Growth marketing: Spend-heavy (paid, teams, agencies, tools, experiments)
✅ Valuation logic: Narrative + TAM + growth rate
✅ Multiples: Higher multiples because “growth is the product”

VC-backed scaling is basically:
“Invest first, profit later. Dominate before someone else does.”

2) The bootstrapped scaling playbook

You grow with what you earn. You’re optimising for infinite runway + control.

✅ Goal: Profitability, durability, independence
✅ Growth strategy: Efficient channels + strong retention
✅ Team size: Lean, multi-hat operators
✅ Growth marketing: ROI-first (content, partnerships, referrals, SEO)
✅ Valuation logic: Revenue quality + margins + predictability
✅ Multiples: Lower multiples historically, but more “real”

Bootstrapping is basically:
“Earn the right to grow and never lose control of the wheel.”

Here’s the thing: AI is making these playbooks blurry
Because AI is changing the cost structure of scaling.

Team sizes are collapsing

What used to require:
3 marketers
2 SDRs
1 ops person
an agency
and a CRM mess

…can now be run by 1–2 killers + AI workflows.

You can build “VC-speed output” with a bootstrapped headcount.

Growth is being rewritten

The old world:
Spend more → test more → learn faster → scale

The new world:
Automate more → personalize more → ship faster → scale

AI gives small teams leverage that used to only exist inside well-funded companies.

Valuation is shifting from “headcount” to “efficiency”

The question is changing from:

“How fast are you growing?”
to:
“How fast can you grow without burning cash?”

This is where things get spicy:

The best businesses now combine both worlds:
bootstrapped discipline
with VC-level ambition
powered by AI-level execution speed

Multiples will reward profitability and velocity

The companies that will get insane outcomes won’t be the ones with the biggest teams…

They’ll be the ones with:

✨ strong distribution
✨ insane iteration speed
✨ low marginal cost
✨ and scalable retention loops

We’re entering an era where capital is no longer the only growth multiplier.
AI is.

So the real question becomes:
Do you need VC… or do you just need leverage?

Because in 2026+, the scariest companies won’t be the most funded.

They’ll be the ones that can do more with less and still grow like crazy 🚀

Have a nice day!

🚨 Job hunting shouldn’t feel like getting punched in the face by your inbox.

So this week, we shipped a BIG batch of updates to AIApply to make the process feel less chaotic… and way more winnable. 👇

🔥 What’s new this week:

✨ Instant Job Matching
Just add aiapply.co/ before any job URL → and instantly discover similar roles.
Every “nope” job becomes 10 new options. And you auto-apply to them instantly.

📬 Smart Inbox (finally)
Your job emails, automatically organized and sorted by type:
interviews, confirmations, rejections… with priority filtering so you don’t miss what matters.

📊 Progress Tracking
Visual milestones so you can actually see your momentum.
From applications → callbacks → interviews (and beyond).

💬 More human language
We replaced “Rejected” with “Declined” across the app.
Because job searching is already brutal — your tools shouldn’t make it worse.

⚡ Smoother onboarding
Progress bar ✅ smarter suggestions ✅ upload your resume from anywhere ✅
Getting started now feels as smooth as hitting “Apply”.

🎯 Better matching
Improved resume parsing + smarter job fits

🎁 Referral Program
Invite a friend. If they subscribe, you both get 10 Auto-Apply credits.
Win-win. Period.

✅ Everything is live now.
If you’re job hunting — or know someone who is — these updates will help a lot 💙

🔗 Try it here: aiapply.co

Quick question: which feature would save you the most time right now? Tell me in the comments

taplio

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Joe DiRico

Yoann Pavy

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The Battle

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